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Thursday, March 05, 2009

So if you've noticed my twitter updates, you would've seen some of my tweets being addressed to RedNoseClimb. If you haven't spent a considerable time living in the UK, you may not be familiar with the whole concept of Comic Relief/Red Nose Day and the Red Nose Climb, so I'll give a brief intro.

Comic Relief is a British charity set up in the '80s by Richard Curtis of rom-com fame. Every year, the UK celebrates Red Nose Day - the main fundraising event for Comic Relief. The idea is that you raise money doing fun/interesting things, and every single pound raised goes to charity (i.e. none of the donations go towards admin costs). The money goes towards long-term projects in the UK and overseas (primarily African nations), and the BBC is one of its main supporters.

I usually donate 50p or something, but this year's different - I've already given £3 and I'll probably end up doubling that. Not to Comic Relief in general, but specifically to the Red Nose Climb. Why?!

The Red Nose Climb = 9 people climbing Mount Kilimanjaro to raise money for insecticide-treated mosquito nets (to aid in reduction of Malaria cases) in the African continent and mental health awareness in the UK. OK, climbing the 4th highest mountain in the world is pretty good, but it still doesn't explain why I'm infatuated with it. Here are the 9 people (you may not recognise some, but still...):

These are not people like us. Apart from the DJs, they spend their days being pampered, and dancing around on stage and TV with make-up and bright lights. They're the ones in the celeb mags, stumbling out of nightclubs and into taxis in a drunken stupor. They're not the type to go climbing mountains. I mean even Chris Moyles...have you seen Chris Moyles?! He doesn't look like he can climb a set of stairs, let alone a mountain!

But they're doing it. They're leaving behind the make up and the hair straighteners, the aftershave and the snazzy outfits...heck they haven't showered since Sunday! They're putting aside their diva lifestyles and putting up with the altitude sickness. All to raise some money for people who need it.

So far, people have donated over £1 million for the climb...and there's still two days for them to reach the summit. One could argue that they could've donated the money themselves between them, but I prefer it this way. It makes them more human.

I hope they all make it safely to the top, back down again and back home.

If you're in the UK and would like to donate £1 to the Red Nose Climb, text 'climb' to 88808 :-)